YOUR FACILITATOR – CAL KENNEDY, CSEP
With over 40 years of event and broadcasting experience, our experienced facilitator Cal Kennedy has produced, directed and facilitated in special events and broadcasting with some of the most well-known on-air talent such as John Berks, DJ Fresh, Malcolm Gooding and Kerishnie Naicker. He has directed and worked with news anchors and on-air journalists Leanne Manas, Robyn Curnow (CNN), Jeremy Maggs, Vuyo Mbuli, Debora Patta, Azania Mosaka, Anand Naidoo (CNN) and Derek Watts. Cal has coached and guided corporate CEOs in live presentation skills from FNB, Standard Bank, ABSA Bank, Capitec Bank, Discovery, MTN, Vodacom, Sappi, SAB, Telkom, Sun International and Southern Sun.
Politicians including President’s Nelson Mandela and Mbeki, international guests Hilary Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and wife Cherie Blair and brilliant conference key-note speakers and orators such as Professor Jonathan Jansen, Magnus Heystek, Richard Maponya, Wendy Luhabe, Thuli Madonsela, Patrice Motsepe and Maria Ramos.
Cal has mentored and worked with comedians Trevor Noah, Loyiso Gola and Barry Hilton. His events produced and directed key-note presentations from sports stars Graham Smith, Clive Rice, Clive Lloyd, Gary Bailey, Francois Pienaar, Joost van der Westhuizen, John Smit, Gary Player and Ernie Els and entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Nicky Oppenheimer, Oprah Winfrey and Magda Wierzycka.
Cal assists corporate companies, government institutions, SOE’s and NGO’s to improve and refine the presentation skills of staff and management from the sales team personnel presenting their ideas at conferences to the CEO’s keynote speeches. Over fifteen-hundred (1500) event and broadcasting professionals have in some aspect worked, been coached and been directed and produced in live events and broadcast radio and television with Cal over the past 40 years.
Shortened CV
PGDip Management Practice (U.C.T.) Cum Laude with Distinction – NQF Level 8
Certified Special Events Professional (CSEP)
National Diploma Sound Engineering (SABC)
Cal is a specialist event professional in every sphere of the professional events industry world-wide including (but not only) all technical aspects such as pre-production, production & post-production audio, video, special FX, lighting, staging, broadcasting live & recorded, streaming platforms, décor, banqueting, transport, logistics & accommodation, supplier contracts & negotiations, producing, directing, managing, entertainment concepts and ideas and event site and safety evaluation. His high ethical standards have maintained him as one of South Africa’s top event producers for over thirty-five years.
He has a three-year National Diploma in sound engineering qualifying in 1983 (light & serious music), an International Certification as a Certified Special Events Professional (CSEP) obtained in 2001 accredited by the George Washington University, USA and the International Live Events Association (ILEA based in Chicago) and was also the first intake to graduate in 2009 with a Post-Graduate Degree in Business Management for Special Events through the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
His career spans from 1981 starting as a junior trainee sound engineer at the SABC where he progressed to senior sound engineer for the National Symphony Orchestra, then moved on to senior sound engineer & online video editor for The Video Lab Facility House from 1983 to 1987, whereby he then started his own special events company “Luminon Special Events” and this company is still currently his most successful organisation thirty-five years later.
He has lectured in broadcasting and event management and execution at colleges and universities but mainly at various conferences around the world mostly being his home base in South Africa, on special events programs and broadcasting concepts and strategy including Hong-Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia (key-note conference speaker), the USA (San Francisco/New Orleans) and in Vancouver, Canada.
